Saturday, January 19, 2008

Breakthrough

Change doesn't come easy around these parts. I lived like a college student until I was about 32. Mo still thinks Madonna is cool. And Hope has steadfastly clung to being a 4-pound baby.

For days, we've eagerly weighed her, hoping she would break into into the ranks of the 5-pounders. For days, the digital scale atop her dresser stubbornly read 4 lbs, 15 oz.

Even with our sundry doctors appointments, Hope's biggest issue day-in, day-out is feeding. On paper, it should take about 8 hours of the day. In reality, it's a round-the-clock gig. Every three hours, she gets about 1 1/2 ounces for a solid day of 12 ounces -- the equivalent of a can of Diet Pepsi that we gulp in 5 minutes. Sometimes, we cajole more. Usually, she's not having it.

It takes about 30 minutes of burping, cooing, tickling and soothing to get it down. That's followed by another 30 minutes of holding her upright and playing with her to ensure it doesn't all come back up. Theoretically, it's off to bed before the process repeats. But often, it's back to bed for 15 minutes, wakey-wakey "Me so mad!" for another 15, more cooing and soothing, then back to bed.

So we were happy today when the scale hit 5 pounds. For those keeping track at home, that's 17 ounces in the 80 days since her birth and 18 ounces in the 64 days since she left the hospital (she lost some weight.) That's about 2 ounces a week, which at this rate will have her on Jenny Craig in about 72 years.

Seriously, we're happy to hit this milestone. It's going to be slow going. We know that. We'd just like to jump-start the process a bit to make it easier, so it's back to Dr. Spitenup on Thursday to discuss our options and her progress.

Congrats on the 5 lb. mark! I found your blog through Karen's site (Ben and his Brothers) and have enjoyed reading it. Hope is a beautiful girl with such a gorgeous smile!! My daughter Jessica (who has CdLS) is now 11...but I can still remember those days of trying to get 2 oz. of formula into her and what seemed like round-the-clock feedings. It does get better, but our little ones definitely grow at their own pace.

Joel and Maureen, it's been a while. Stumbled across your blog today and just wanted to say that you guys should be so incredibly proud. Hope is one total cutie-pie, and you guys are such an inspiration. Best of luck!-Sheri

Guys: Your latest video post was A-OK. But reading on the poynter.org web-site there is some scuttle butt that you have censored the great pic of ur daughter wearing the Hillary 1-sie after some flak. Gums are a flapping!